


Justice of Virginia Potts

by FaneLothaireBloodpaw



Series: RESCUE [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Pepper Potts, BAMF Pepper Potts, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, POV Pepper Potts, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Feels, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2020-12-24 03:36:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21092756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaneLothaireBloodpaw/pseuds/FaneLothaireBloodpaw
Summary: Pepper Potts was a strong woman, and no one doubted that. She also loved Tony to death and always worried about his bad habits of not taking care of himself. But everything changed when Peter Parker entered their life. They were happy with how close of a family they were. Pepper and Tony loved Peter Parker like their own son. Everything was perfect.But happiness doesn't always last forever. It's time for her to stop depending on Tony and the Avengers to fight the villains. It's time for her to stop hiding in the tower like a damsel in distress. Maybe this time, she will enter the battlefield to protect people that she loves. For her family. She will fight until the endgame.





	1. The Beginning of Miracle

Pepper Potts had just arrived at the tower after 5 weeks in New Zealand for a business trip and she was downright exhausted. She looked at her wristwatch as she entered the elevator. 10:45 p.m.

She sighed. She really hoped that her fiance could stop whatever it was he was doing right now because she really needed him to hold her. At the end of the day, she was a human too. She needed affection from the one she loved. Tony was probably locking himself in his lab again like he always did whenever she wasn't home and she scoffed in annoyance at the thought.

She stepped out of the elevator, threw her bag and high heels on the couch, before making her way to the kitchen to have a glass of water for her dry throat. Right before she entered the kitchen, she came into an immediate halt. She could hear a faint conversation between Tony and another voice that she wasn't familiar with. She then recalled that Tony had told her that someone was coming over but she didn't ask who it was.

She moved quietly and took a peep from the entrance of the kitchen. She could feel her jaw slacked at what she was seeing. Whatever she was expecting, she clearly did not expect Tony talking with a boy, so young, at the kitchen counter. There were books scattered on the counter but Tony and the boy were mainly focusing on one book in front of them.

"How about this one, Mr. Stark?", she heard the boy asked, his voice was soft and calm. "That one you just have too....", she just tuned out as her fiance explained something about physics. What surprised her more was that he used a very soft tone which was so soothing and he seemed to be so relax and content. One more thing she noticed was that how close they were sitting. Everyone knew that Tony didn't like it when people entered his personal bubble.

As much as she found this really adorable, she really needed to know who this boy was and why was Tony helping him with some school homework. She might have assumed that this was probably Tony's kid from his past. She has had this conversation with Tony. That if he somehow managed to get someone pregnant during his playboy era, she wouldn't be mad and would just accept the child. She just smiled softly to herself as she shifted further into the kitchen and cleared her throat.

She watched as both of them snapped their heads so fast that for a moment she thought their necks were going to break. She almost laughed at how funny the boy's face was. His eyes were wide and mouth was slightly ajar. Her heart melted when she saw Tony's eyes lit up when he noticed her and he gave her the smile that she hadn't seen in a long time. The genuine smile that reminded her of why she fell for the man.

She watched as her fiance stood up, walking towards her and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Hey Pep? You're alright?", he asked. She smiled in response before looking back at the poor boy who was clearly still in shock. "Who do we have here?", she asked kindly as not to scare him more than he already was. He hastily stood up and tried to smooth his none existence wrinkles on his clothes.

"Miss Potts! H-hi, my name Peter. P-Peter Parker. It's nice t-to finally meet you, Mam. Mr. Stark talks about you a lot", he introduced himself between his stutters. "It's nice to meet you too, Peter.", she grinned softly before looking back at Tony.

"When are you going to tell me that you have a son?", she raised an eyebrow at him. She saw the way Tony's face changes from confused, to horror and finally to amusement. She turned her head to look at Peter who was now blushing like a tomato and looked back at her in horror.

"Pep, honey? What makes you think he's my son?", he asked, obviously amused with the situation. Now it was her turn to bump her eyebrows into a scowl as she frowned. "What? Wait. I don't understand. I mean, look at him. He looks like you. He even has your eyes.", she just looked at them back and forth.

"Pete? Is there anything else you want to say?", he looked at the boy expectantly. Peter just beamed at her like he just remembered something that he forgot to mention.

"I'm Spider-Man, Miss Potts"

And just like that, her smile disappeared from her face. She just stared at him, taking in every detail. How on earth was Tony letting this precious little boy risk his life every day?!

Tony must have noticed her change of demeanor as he shifted nervously next to her. She slowly turned her head to her fiance and glared at him. "Tony, He's twelve!!", she raised her voice slightly, making both of them wince.

"I'm fifteen", she hears the boy muttered.

She just sighed because she doesn't want to scare the boy but still opened her mouth at Tony. "We're going to talk about this, Tony", she said which he hesitantly nodded back. She sighed again before taking Tony's hand in hers and pulling him to sit at the counter. Might as well get to know this sweet boy better then.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

After a lot of screaming at her end and a lot of excuses from Tony, she reluctantly accepted that there was no way of stopping Peter from being Spider-Man. Especially when she saw how dejected her fiance was about the whole argument.

"I've tried, Pep. I've tried to stop him. He's too young. He shouldn't be out there risking his life, saving people. I know that but he just won't listen. I took his suit away from him and he still managed to get himself almost killed. I offered him to be an Avengers so that I could get him into the least dangerous missions ever to protect him but he rejected the offer. And now the only thing I can do to protect him is to be there for him, Pep. I don't want to be like Howard.", he let out his frustration.

"I don't want to be like Howard", he whispered. She had never heard him so vulnerable before.

She could see the way his hands were shaking and the tears pooling in his eyes. Her heart shattered at the sight of his face. He looked so defeated. She slowly stood from the couch and kneed in front of him. She took his hand into her left hand and she rested her other hand on his cheeks, brushing away the tears. "I'm sorry for being angry, Tony. It's not your fault and you are not Howard and you will never be like him. You're good for Peter. I can tell".

And that night, they just hold each other, enjoying their partner's presence.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Pepper sat on the couch in the living room as she tried to do her work. Keyword, trying. She was heavily distracted by the way her fiance kept on pacing around for the past half an hour. She tried her best to ignore him but she could feel her patient was getting thinner as she gripped the pen in her hand, eyebrows set in a scowl.

"Tony, for heaven's sake! Can you please stop moving around. I'm trying to do my job here!", she threw her hands in the air to show how annoyed she was. Tony's eyes snapped at her. She could see the concern and worries in his eyes. His jaw clenched before he replied, "Oh, I'm sorry. Was my walking too loud for you?", he said sarcastically.

She just rolled her eyes. After all these years, she was already immune to his witty remarks. "I know you're worried, Tony. Maybe he got distracted by dogs or something on his way here. You know how he is", she tried to calm him down.

Peter was supposed to be there at 21:00. But it was already 45 minutes past nine. She was worried too because it was not like Peter at all to be late but Tony walking around panicking would only make her more anxious. "It's been more than 30 minutes, Pep. What if something happened to him? He doesn't do late, you know that. And he won't answer his phone. So, of course, I'm worried", he said, letting his body fall onto the couch next to her. Pepper just set her lips into a thin line. "Why don't you check where he is?", she tried.

"He's not wearing his suit and somehow he managed to hack into his phone and remove the tracker. So I can't check where he is", he shook his head before resting it on his hands. Before she could open her mouth again, the elevator slid open and they both turned to see Peter shuffled out, head hanging low.

They both sighed, relieved that he wasn't harmed, or that was what they thought until the boy lifted his face and they just stared at him in shock. His nose was bloody, probably broken, his lips were busted and blood was dripping from his chin. They both jumped out of the couch like someone just set it on fire and rushed towards the boy.

"What happened to you?!", Tony half-shouted, putting his hands on Peter's shoulders and pulled him closer. Tony tilted his head to check on the injuries as they heard him mumbled. "Peter, honey? You need to speak up a little bit. We can't hear you.", Pepper asked.

"I was walking here but then I saw a man trying to hit this one woman. I tried to stop him but he hit me in the face. I didn't bring my suit so I couldn't fight back", he focused his eyes to the floor, too scared to meet their eyes. "Why didn't you call me?", Tony asked, his breath was deep and fast as he tried not to combust. "I didn't want to disturb you", he replied back. His voice broke when he said 'disturb'.

"Peter! I told you to call me if anything happens! I don't care how busy I am! You get hurt, you call me! How hard is that for you to understand!", Pepper's heart clenched as tears beginning to make their way down on the boy's flushed cheeks. She grabbed Tony's arm to get his attention.

"That's enough, Tony! We get it. You're worried but shouting won't solve the problem. Go to the kitchen and cool yourself down", she glared at him as he stared back at her. Tony must have realized that he had gone a little too harsh because he looked back at Peter, ashamed and guilty. "Now, Tony.", she said it again, much less forceful than before. He stood there for five seconds before heading to the kitchen.

"Peter, sweetie? Come here. How about you sit on the couch.", she said as she carefully guided him to where she previously sat on. "I'm sorry, Miss Potts.", she heard him whisper in between his sniff. "Hey. It's alright. Tony isn't mad at you. He's just worried, yeah? He cares about you, Peter.", she spoke up softly. "Now, wait here. I'll get some ice and painkillers.", she straightened her back and went to the kitchen.

She saw Tony sitting on the kitchen counter, head in his hands. "Tony?", she gently put her hand on his back. " I failed, Pep. I messed up. Wow, Howard must be so proud of me now.", he sounded so defeated. His voice heavy with regrets. She slowly pulled his hands away and lifted his chin. "You're not Howard, Tony. You know why? Because if Howard was here, I doubt he would give a single crap about a boy bleeding in his living room.", she walked away from him to get a piece of cloth, put it under the tap to make it wet, before pulling out an ice pack from the fridge.

She pushed both items gently into his hand. "He's already injured now, Tony. There is nothing you can do to take it back. So unless you can build a time machine to turn back time and prevent that from happening, take this cloth and go clean the blood off his face. And put the ice on his nose.", she gave him a reassuring smile and watched him nodded before hesitantly walked out of the kitchen.

She sighed when he was out of her sight and began to search for the painkillers. After she found them, she walked back to the living room only to meet with the sight of Tony, cupping his left hand on Peter's cheek while gently wiping away the blood with his other hand. Once he managed to get all the blood off, he set down the cloth on the table before looking at the kid straight in the eyes and pulled him into his arm. She saw how much Peter meant to him and she knew the boy knew it too. She watched as Peter hugged him back and buried his face into Tony's chest. "I'm sorry", she heard her fiance whispered softly into the boy's ears.

She could see how much they cared for each other. She could feel their love radiate into the air as a soft smile made its way into her face. They were both good for each other. She shook her head to snap her thought away before walking towards them, painkillers in hand.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Two days after the incident, as she tried to make herself a drink for breakfast, she noticed a new small cabinet that she had never seen before next to the fridge. Curious, she opened the cabinet only to see rows of medicine. There were bottles of cough syrup, painkillers, gauzes and boxes of plasters. She put a hand on her mouth as tears pooled in her eyes. She let out a wet laugh as she thought, 'Tony will never ever be like Howard'.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

"And then turn into that corner. That corner, Pepper! And now you missed it", Pepper just rolled her eyes in retaliation. "Maybe I wouldn't have missed if you told me to turn before I reached the corner, and not after", she scoffed. "Oh, so it's my fault now?", he asked sarcastically.

Pepper just looked at him for a solid three seconds. "Yes!", she replied in exasperation. "Pep, honey? There are literally dozens of people here, on their way to pick up their kids. Just follow them. There see?", he said when he saw the sign of Midtown High School.

She didn't even bother to hide her smile as she turned into the right corner after she heard that Tony had just implied Peter as their kids. She slowed down to park the car near the school gate. "What are we doing here again?", she flipped her strawberry blond hair as she turned to give a quizzical look at him.

Tony just stared back at her like he just asked something so ridiculous. "What do you mean? We're here to get Peter. I promised to get him some ice cream today. I thought I told you that."

"Okay... let me rephrase. What am I doing here then?"

"Because I want you there. Can't you see it, Honey? You, me, and Pete. It's perfect", he said making her smile before turning his head back to see if the students had gone out yet. Pepper could feel happiness crept into her body because she had never felt so domestic before.

The waiting finally ended when she saw a familiar bouncy brown curls among the sea of students. "Hey, Mr. Stark!", she heard the back door opened and closed as the boy made himself comfortable with the seatbelt.

The boy turned to look at her and beamed up in surprise like he just noticed her presence. "Miss Potts! Are you coming to get ice creams too?", he asked enthusiastically. She just nodded because she couldn't stop laughing at how cute he was with his big round eyes. "Awesome!"

"I'm starting to think that we can make this a weekly thing on Fridays", Tony said turning his body so he could see Peter. She heard the boy gasped while stopping the car when they reached the red light. "Really? Can we?", he asked, bouncing a little from his seat which made him look like a puppy.

"Yeah! What do you say, Pep?"

"Of course, we can", for a moment she wondered, how lucky she was to be blessed with this..._ family. Her family_. She couldn't help but thought that Peter Parker was a miracle sent from God.


	2. The Beginning of War

They decided that today was a perfect day to spend time together as they both had the day off and Peter was going on a school trip. She suggested that they went jogging at the public park because it had been a while since they did something outdoor together and Tony agreed. They were glad that there weren't many people there considering most people had work or school. For the past 30 minutes, Tony had been talking about his dream last night.

"Slow down, slow down. I'm totally not kidding", Tony said, trying to catch up with his fiance. She rolled her eyes but slowed down until they were jogging side by side. "You're totally rambling", she said back, slightly laughing at how breathless he was. "No, I'm not", he jogged past her and blocked her way, making them stop to catch up some air.

"Look, you know how you're having a dream, and in the dream you gotta pee?", he tried again.

"Yeah?", she said, confused with what he was trying to say. " Okay, and then you're like, 'Oh my god, there's no bathroom, what am I gonna do?', 'Oh! Someone's watching,' ''m gonna go in my pants.'", he said, making wild hand gestures. He looked and sounded so ridiculous but Pepper knew he was being serious.

"Right. And then you wake up, and in real life, you actually have to pee. Yeah, everyone has that", she said and nodded, suddenly curious to where this conversation was going. From the corner of her eyes, she could see a few people who had walked past them making weird faces. Well, couldn't blame them. She thought it must be weird walking out one morning and stumble upon Tony Stark and Pepper Potts having a conversation about peeing in their dream.

"Right!", his voice snapped her thought away and she turned to face him. "Why are we having this conversation again?", she tilted her head to the side, a confused smile formed on her face. Tony pulled her close and she noticed how excited and bright his eyes were. Maybe whatever this was, it was something important that she should listen to.

"Right! That's the point I'm trying to make. Apropos of that, last night, I dreamt, we had a kid. So real. We named him after your eccentric uncle. Uh, what was his name?", she watched as he closed his eyes and scowled, trying to remember a name and she nodded in understanding. She already had the idea of what this was all going to be.

"Morgan", they both said at the same time. "Yes, Morgan! Morgan", he said the name over and over. She couldn't help but laugh at how cute he was being. "So you woke up and thought we were...", she raised her eyebrows.

"Expecting!", he rested both his hands or her shoulder.

"Yeah", she said casually.

"Yes?", he asked, sounded so excited.

"No.", she shook her head.

She saw the way the corner of his lips fell slightly and she immediately felt bad about it. She sighed. "Tony, we'd talked about this", she took his hands in hers and pulled him to sit down on the bench nearby. "I had a dream about it. It felt so real!", he whined as they sat.

"If you wanted to have a kid, you wouldn't have done that", she unzipped his jacket and tapped the chest attachment.

"I'm glad you brought this up, 'cause it's nothing. It's just a housing unit for nanoparticles.", he held her hands and rested them on his lap. "It's not helping your case, okay?", she said rolling her eyes and looked at the lake in the middle of the park.

"No, no, it's an attachment, it's not a-"

"You don't need that.", she insisted.

"I know. I had the surgery. I'm just trying to protect us. The future usses, and that's it. Just in case there's a monster in the closet, instead of, you know..."

"Shirts?", she smirked. "You know me so well. You finish all my sentences.", he grinned charmingly that almost made her giggle like a schoolgirl, but she didn't. She took a deep breath and sighed before looking back at her fiance. "It's not that I don't want a child, Tony. But until you get rid of all the marks or locked them in the lab, we're not having a baby. I don't want to risk it, Tony. You spend about 16 hours average in the lab making more marks that we already have. Our child could get hurt by one of those marks", she explained, eyes never breaking the eye contact.

She watched as he clenched his jaw and tightened his hands around hers. She knew he wanted to protest that his suits would never hurt their child, but deep down he knew that there would always be the risk. He sighed before his face softened and he smiled softly. "Okay."

"Also, in case you haven't realized, you're already a father to Peter. Remember what May said? Blood is not what makes us a family. It's the feeling of love that binds us together. You, me, Peter, May, Rhodey and Happy. That's our family. Maybe, one day? Maybe one day we can give Pete a little sibling. A sister perhaps? Cuz I swear Tony, I can't handle any more testosterone in this family.", she said and she meant all of it.

Her little speech might have lifted up Tony's mood because he was smiling now. Not the fake smile that he used for strangers, but the genuine smile that he only gave to her. His eyes glowed with love as he stared at her like she hung all the stars in the skies. "God, Pepper! I love you _so much_. Have I told you that?", he rested his forehead on hers.

"Every time you got yourself into trouble, which is every single day", they laughed together. She closed her eyes, trying to enjoy their moment. Trying to save it in her memory. She didn't care that they were in public. She didn't care that some people were staring. She didn't care about the paparazzi that she knew was hiding behind the bushes 8 feet from where they were were sitting. She suddenly felt soft lips on hers and she kissed him back.

But that didn't last for even three seconds before something gold flashed in front of them, moving in circle. They quickly jumped out of their seats but Tony pushed her back to make her stand behind him. They watched as a man who wore a ridiculous outfit with a red cape on his shoulder came out of the circle. She held one of Tony's hands, trying to not shaking much.

God! Just when she thought her life would not get any crazier. Norse God trying to take over New York? Yeah fine, that was years ago anyway. Her fiance's robots came to life and then trying to destroy the earth? Yeah, that was upsetting. A sweet little boy who happened to have spider power and fight crimes during the night? A big surprise, but a pleasant one. And now there was a _freaking wizard_ came out of God knew where? She just stood there, speechless.

"Tony Stark, I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me.", the wizard, Strange, said with a firm voice. Well, strange indeed because now the said wizard was demanding her fiance to go with him. What the hell was even happening?

Strange must have realized that too and that he just interrupted their moment because he cleared his throat. "Oh, uh, congratulations on the wedding, by the way", he stuttered and no one corrected him that they weren't married yet.

"I'm sorry, you giving out tickets or something?", Tony gave his witty remarks like he always did when he stumbled upon a potential threat. His hand tightened on hers. "We need your help. Look, it's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake.", Strange replied like he was asking them to join him for tea.

Pepper let out her breath that she didn't know she was holding. She controlled the urged to roll her eyes. To scream. To push him back into the portal. Because of course, the world was in grave danger, _again_. And of course, they needed her fiance to risk his life, _again_. She knew Tony must have thought the same thing from the way his whole body tensed.

"And who's _'we'?_", Tony snapped. That was when things got more complicated. "Hey, Tony", they both gasped as their long lost friend emerged from the portal. She glanced at Tony and she knew he had a hard time to believe it too. His eyes wide, confused. Scared. His jaw hung loose. "Bruce", he whispered

Bruce made eye contact with her and he nodded. "Pepper".

"Hi", she said, her voice shook, still trying to digest everything in. She watched as he walked towards them and fell into Tony's embrace, clinging desperately. That was when she realized, whatever the threat was, this would not end well. She could feel it in her bone. Tony looked at her and she understood at once. At much as she abhorred it, she said, "Go".

She watched as they went into the portal, but not before Tony hugged her and kissed her head. "Be safe", she said. He hugged her again and the hug last for about ten seconds before he pulled back. "I'll be back, Miss Potts. I promise."

And just like that, they were gone, leaving her all alone in the middle of the park.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////


	3. Beginning of Downfall

Pepper got home and inelegantly let herself fall on the couch. She still couldn't shake the bad feeling that was starting to mess with her mind. She was dead worried about Tony. Especially if the said man just disappeared with a God damn wizard. She groaned loudly before asking FRIDAY to switch on the television. She glanced at the wall clock and it showed1127.

She brought the focus back on the television. That was when she realized it was the news and she frowned. "Since when there is news at 11:27 in the morning?", she said to herself but FRIDAY answered her anyway. _"It appears that there is an alien attack in New York and Boss is currently fighting them."_

She quickly sat up on the couch, her heart was beating a thousand miles per hour. She didn't know why but her whole body had started to sweat as she watched her fiance was being thrown away in the air like a rag doll and there was a weird-looking spaceship hovered in the air. "They literally just left like half an hour ago! And now they're already in trouble?! You got to be kidding me!", she exclaimed.

She just intensely glared at the screen until Iron Man and the aliens moved out of the frame. They were moving so fast that the cameraman had lost their positions. She waited for about a solid minute before cursing under her breath when they didn't come back into the frame.

Without wasting any time, she rushed into her room and grabbed her phone on the nightstand. She dialed Tony's numbers and waited. But it went into the voice mail. She tried again. And again. And again. Her breath was getting heavier after each voice mail.

After like the sixth trial, he finally picked up. "Tony? Oh God, are you alright? What's going on?", she asked, her voice was heavily laced with worry.

"I'm fine. But err... I just think that maybe you don't have to wait for me for our dinner tonight", he said, trying to sound nonchalant but she could hear it. The panic behind his voice.

"Why?", she sat on her bed, pulling her eyebrows together into a scowl.

"Just 'cause I'll... probably not make it back for a while", she could feel her heart literally stop for about three seconds. She felt the dreading sensation seeped into her bones and she shivered.

"Tell me you're not on that ship", she closed her eyes and tried her best to control her breathing. She didn't know why but she felt a little bit lightheaded under all this stress.

"Yeah, about that, Miss Potts", she gripped her phone hard.

"God, no. Please tell me you're not on that ship.", she asked again but it sounded more like pleading at this point.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I don't know what to say.", he replied back. His voice was tensed and a little bit worried too.

"Come back here, Tony. I swear to God...."

"Pep...."

"Come back here right now! Come back!", she was seconds away from screaming but turned out, she didn't even have that chance when she heard FRIDAY from the Iron Man suit spoke up.

"Boss, we're losing her. I...ve to... cut...", and just like that, the call was ended, leaving her broken and in despair.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

After she calmed down from her mental breakdown, she quickly pulled herself back together and went back to the living room. She sat on the couch in silence, hugging her legs close to her chest and tried to think about what to do about the whole situation.

Her thought was interrupted when she heard the elevator slid open. For a moment, she thought it was Tony. Maybe he had finally decided to actually listen to her and come home. But when she turned around, she saw a very frantic looking Happy Hogan. His eyes wide and she could feel the panic and terror radiated off his skins from the way his whole body was trembling.

"Pepper! Oh God! Thank God, you're okay", he all but ran to the couch next to her. "Happy are you okay? What's wrong?", she asked, putting a hand on his arm to calm him down. He didn't answer her but he snatched the remote from the table and switched it on.

"God! Pepper, look!", and she did. She watched as people, men, women, and children were literally collapsing into dust. She gripped Happy's bicep as she saw a girl being disintegrated from her father's arms into the thin air. Her whole body was shaking and her spine shivered as she heard them screaming, terror was filling the atmosphere.

"Oh no, Happy. W-what's going on? Oh shit, Happy! Tony! H-He's in space a-and he- I-", she stumbled upon her own words, her mind was buzzing. Tears were streaming hard on the cheeks.

"-reathe, Pepper! Can you hear me? You need to breathe. I don't know what happened, okay? I was driving and suddenly...", she tuned him out as she closed her eyes and cried. How was this even possible? Today was supposed to be great. They were supposed to have a very nice dinner tonight for their small family and—. She whipped her head so fast that she managed to make Happy jumped. He looked at her, worried, concerned and scared.

"Happy, call May", she said through her trembling voice.

"W-what? B-but—"

"Happy! Call her!", she said again, louder. She waited and prayed. She prayed like she had never prayed before. Hoping that she would pick up but she didn't.

"Call Peter", please, no. Not Peter.

"Pep I-"

"Call him!"

"I can't, Pepper!"

She just looked at him, and she could see that he was just as scared as she was and she quickly wiped her tears away. "Why? What do you mean you can't?"

"Because Ned called and he told me that Peter went with Tony".

/////////////////////////////////////////////////


	4. The Cold Blood Waiting

It had been 23 days since the snap. The world governments were in pieces and most of the organizations were temporarily closed, SI being one of them. More than half of the staff were dusted and Pepper wasn't in any state to lead a company while her fiance was still missing.

Rhodey had come to the tower a day after the snap to check if Pepper was . . . still alive. He asked her and Happy to come to the Avengers Compound because it was much safer there but Happy refused, saying he needed to check on his other family.

Peppet was eerily quiet all the way to the compound. She was still shaking and silent tears kept on flowing down her cheeks as she thought about Tony and Peter. There was still no news about those who went to space.

She couldn't stop thinking whether they survived the snap . . . or were they also dusted. Or they might even be dead before the snap happened. The thought did nothing but fastened the flow of the tears as she choked, her whole body shivered from the cold that seemed to creep into her bones. She could feel her chest weighed heavily but yet so empty.

The first person she stumbled onto when she entered the compound was none other than Steve Roger. He was almost unrecognizable with his messy thick beard and medium long hair. His eyes empty and cold, she wondered if her eyes looked like that too.

The moment their eyes met, Pepper looked away and clenched her jaw. She was still not over with what he had done to Tony. She wanted to be mad, to scream and to blame, but deep down she was still relieved that he survives. As much as she hated to admit it, they needed who ever that survived back on the team if they wanted to fix this. If it can be fixed. She thought but quickly shook it off.

Natasha led her to her room and Pepper was glad that it was her and not anybody else. Among all the ex-Avengers, Pepper was least angry at the Widow. She even dared to say that she considered her as a friend, once.

As she twisted the doorknob, Natasha quickly held onto her wrist, making her flinched in surprise. She whipped her head to face Natasha and for the first time since she arrived at the compound, she now realized how worn out the Widow was. Her now blond hair was a bit of a mess, there were bags under her eyes and scratches all over her face, probably the aftermath of the last battle in Wakanda. Her thought was cut off when Natasha spoke.

"Pepper, look. I – I'm really glad to see you here. And I'm sorry", her voice was quiet and exhausted. She didn't know if she was sorry for leaving Tony and ran with the others or she was sorry about what had happened now. Probably both.

"Me too", she said back before entering her room and closed the door behind her. She walked pass a large mirror on the wall and halted. She slowly ran her eyes over her own unrecognizable reflection.

Her hair was set on a much too tangled ponytail. Her eyes were red and puffy while the dried up tears covering most of her cheeks and chin. Her whole body posture was so tensed that it looked so unnatural. She had never seen herself in such a condition. 

She stood there for another 84 more seconds before walking towards her bed and collapse.

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For 23 days, Pepper locked herself inside her room, only leaving for 30 minutes every evening to get some air. For 23 days, she woke up in the middle of night, cold, sweaty and gasping for air, because of nightmares that seemed to haunt her every day.

Natasha had visited her every 10 in the morning sharp, to update her on Tony's unknown whereabouts. They didn't even know if he was still alive. Not until Friday informed her that she got a message from Tony yesterday, and now Captain Danver was trying to search for him.

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"_Miss Potts, it seems like you have gotten a message from Boss_".

It took her a whole minute to process the words in her sleepy mind and another whole minute to reassure herself that she was in fact, not dreaming. She scrambled hastily onto her feet, eyes wide opened as she listened to her own heartbeats drummed inside her ribcage.

"Play it, Fri", she ordered, her voice was rasp from the sleep, and slightly shaken. She waited, but nothing happened. For a moment, she thought she was just dreaming. That or she had finally gone crazy. But then a hologram suddenly appeared at the middle of room, illuminating the darkness. 

Her hand flew to cover her mouth as she stared at the image of Tony Stark, completely beaten, sitting against the wall of what she assumed a spaceship. The weight of the recent event of Infinity War could be clearly seen in his posture. His shoulders rounded forward, his eyes drooping, hard and cold.

Her eyes moved frantically to search for Peter but her panic and anxiety came back when she couldn't find him. Her attention came back to Tony as he spoke, god, she never knew how desperate she was to hear that voice.

"_This thing on_?", the hologram shook as he tapped the recorder from his helmet. Satisfied, he leaned back against the walls and took deep, uneven, breaths. He looked skinnier and weak from the lack of food in space. There was a big wound on his side that he had covered with some bandage and she could see a little bit of blood stain on it.

"_Hey, Miss Potts... Pep. If you find this recording, don't post it on social media. It's gonna be a real tear-jerker. I don't know if you're ever going to see these. I don't even know if you're... if you're still... Oh god, I hope so. Today is day 21, uh 22_." he looked away and stared at the window next to him. Pepper wondered what he was thinking and if he had been staring at the same view for 22 days.

"_You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror of staring into a void of space, I'd say I'm feeling better today. The infection's run its course, Thanks to the blue meanie back there_.", she didn't know nor she could see who the blue meanie was, but god, she was enternaly grateful for whatever they had done to treat his wound. 

_"You'd love her. Very practical. Only a tiny bit sadistic. Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, but we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves about 48 hours of time. But it's now dead in the water. We're 1000 light years from the nearest 7-11.",_ She quickly ran to grab a pen from her bedside table and scribbled down the coordinate on her palm. She would run straight to the others to inform them after this, even though she knew they could have just asked Friday to replay the message. But she just wanted to at least do something, anything, to help.

"_Oxygen will run out tomorrow. And that'll be it_.", she whipped her head back to Tony, eyes wide. The pen in her hand slipped as her blood ran cold inside her body at that newfound information. 

_NONONONONONO_

" _And Pep, I ... I know I said no more surprises, but I was really hoping to pull off one last one. But it looks like... well you know what it looks like. Don't feel bad about this. I mean, if you grovel for a couple of weeks, and then move on with enormous guilt. I should probably lie down. Please know that... when I drift off, I will think about you_.", he looked straight into her eyes, as if she was really there in front of him. She could feel how he poured every single emotion into that eyes as she stared back.

"_Because it's always you_."

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End file.
